Relegation

[Rossiter]

It's ineffective football. Over complicated in the final third imo. Defence is another matter! Could do with Alan Smith type striker. Hold the ball up. We seem to be relying on intricate threaded passes which look great when they come off but are difficult. Bit like Arsenal used to do in past few seasons...walk the ball in. We need to go to a more simple yet effective game. Don't know if we've got the players. Souness on radio the other day said Liverpool in his day always stuck to how they played through thick and thin as it had brought success. Maybe BR is just sticking to this as it has brought some success a couple of years ago.

[Sunbury Fox]

2 hours ago, Typhoeus said:

We won’t be relegated, the team is too good for that. Just out of form right now but eventually something will land for us and confidence will rise again.

You look at the names on paper and it is tempting to think we are too good to go down but...

 

A significant minority of the match day squad are only here because they couldn't get a move elsewhere eg Youri, Soumaré, Praet, Cags and possibly even Maddison. 

 

Vardy and Evans are another year older and not looking anywhere near as effective, though I thought Evans was superb last night. Vardy, though, looks way off at the moment. 

 

We have a Championship keeper in goal. 

 

We have 1 PL class winger meaning that we are totally unbalanced when attacking. All teams need to do is double up on Barnes and we offer nothing down the right flank. 

 

Our manager would rather play players out of position than select the specialists that he has available in those roles eg playing Ndidi at CB over Cags and Maddison at RW instead of Albrighton or Perez. 

 

Our manager is routinely throwing players collectively and individually under the bus in his post game interviews in full Mourinho in meltdown style. His general demeanour is negative and downbeat and I just don't think he is motivating the players any more. All they hear from him is that they are not good enough, the club is no longer the same, etc. It's no wonder confidence is so low. His whinging about transfer funds also gives the players an excuse for losing, which is not healthy. It's clear Rodgers has lost interest in 'the project' and is going through the motions. 

 

Taking last night's team, it is far less good than it appears to be in my view:

 

Ward - Championship level

Justin - not been the same since his ACL

Evans - still good but ageing and injury prone

Ndidi - played out of position last night and is way off his former levels as a CDM (possibly as a result of various injuries or being asked to play in a way that he is not able to).

Thomas - would he start for any other PL side?

Soumaré - did well last night but has a long way to go to prove himself in the PL.

Tielemans - class but doesn't really want to be at Leicester. 

KDH - works really hard and loves the club but the more he plays the more you see his lack of quality on the ball in key moments. Should not be playing centrally over Maddison for that very reason. 

Maddison - shunted out to the RW, due to KDH's inclusion and where he is far less effective than he is centrally. Again, is he fully happy at Leicester after the Newcastle interest?

Vardy - badly off form. Is age finally catching up with him?

Barnes - too much reliance on him as the one player we have who can take on and beat an opponent. There are still flashes of brilliance from him but since his serious injury he's not reached the same heights consistently in my view. 

 

So overall I'm not sure we are too good to be drawn into a relegation battle and if we are I don't think we have the grit and fighting spirit to get out of it, with a disinterested manager and so many players off form, ageing or wanting to leave. 

[SuperMike]

13 hours ago, Sly said:

Stats wise -

 

# Shots  - 18th of 20.

# Tackles - 14th of 20.

# Passes - 3rd of 20.

# Long Balls - 18th of 20.

# Goals - 13th of 20.

# Blocks - 17th of 20.

# Clearances - 15th of 20. 
# Saves - 16th of 20.

# Sprints - 20th of 20.

# XG - 20th of 20.

# XA - 20th of 20.

# Passing sequence time - 20th of 20.

# Turnovers - 20th of 20. 
 

You can see we have an issue. 
 

WOW! Out of all the posts on 30 Rodgers topics, and 20 bad form topics, This has to be THE most pertinent (and damning) of all of them!! 

3rd in passing and pretty much gash in ALL the rest - really shows that we are sticking with something that patently doesn't work - the oft quoted (in relation to Rodgers) why expect to get success by carrying on doing something that has only ever bought failure?

Every fan on FT recognises this, Every fan at the ground recognises this. Surely Sky, BBC, BT and the mainstream Press CANNOT miss the relevance of this coaching (and it IS coaching) anomaly at LCFC??

It is so glaringly obvious that it can only be missed by ONE PERSON - and that one person appears hellbent on taking us down the leagues.

He needs to go - NOW.

[Guest Col city fan]

46 minutes ago, Sunbury Fox said:

You look at the names on paper and it is tempting to think we are too good to go down but...

 

A significant minority of the match day squad are only here because they couldn't get a move elsewhere eg Youri, Soumaré, Praet, Cags and possibly even Maddison. 

 

Vardy and Evans are another year older and not looking anywhere near as effective, though I thought Evans was superb last night. Vardy, though, looks way off at the moment. 

 

We have a Championship keeper in goal. 

 

We have 1 PL class winger meaning that we are totally unbalanced when attacking. All teams need to do is double up on Barnes and we offer nothing down the right flank. 

 

Our manager would rather play players out of position than select the specialists that he has available in those roles eg playing Ndidi at CB over Cags and Maddison at RW instead of Albrighton or Perez. 

 

Our manager is routinely throwing players collectively and individually under the bus in his post game interviews in full Mourinho in meltdown style. His general demeanour is negative and downbeat and I just don't think he is motivating the players any more. All they hear from him is that they are not good enough, the club is no longer the same, etc. It's no wonder confidence is so low. His whinging about transfer funds also gives the players an excuse for losing, which is not healthy. It's clear Rodgers has lost interest in 'the project' and is going through the motions. 

 

Taking last night's team, it is far less good than it appears to be in my view:

 

Ward - Championship level

Justin - not been the same since his ACL

Evans - still good but ageing and injury prone

Ndidi - played out of position last night and is way off his former levels as a CDM (possibly as a result of various injuries or being asked to play in a way that he is not able to).

Thomas - would he start for any other PL side?

Soumaré - did well last night but has a long way to go to prove himself in the PL.

Tielemans - class but doesn't really want to be at Leicester. 

KDH - works really hard and loves the club but the more he plays the more you see his lack of quality on the ball in key moments. Should not be playing centrally over Maddison for that very reason. 

Maddison - shunted out to the RW, due to KDH's inclusion and where he is far less effective than he is centrally. Again, is he fully happy at Leicester after the Newcastle interest?

Vardy - badly off form. Is age finally catching up with him?

Barnes - too much reliance on him as the one player we have who can take on and beat an opponent. There are still flashes of brilliance from him but since his serious injury he's not reached the same heights consistently in my view. 

 

So overall I'm not sure we are too good to be drawn into a relegation battle and if we are I don't think we have the grit and fighting spirit to get out of it, with a disinterested manager and so many players off form, ageing or wanting to leave. 

Good post 👍

[cityfanlee23]

I'm still 100% confident we stay up. There's absolutely no way Rodgers lasts another 3-4 games, new manager will come in and get a bounce and we will find ourselves mid table again. 

[Kasey Keller]

So many things wrong behind the scenes.

BR slating everyone but himself, players retaliating via social media…..

I hate to say it but we are down.

Its been a hellova ride.

[Number 6]

1 hour ago, cityfanlee23 said:

I'm still 100% confident we stay up. There's absolutely no way Rodgers lasts another 3-4 games, new manager will come in and get a bounce and we will find ourselves mid table again. 

This is the main saving grace a think. If we have Rodgers for the full season then it will be a full on relegation battle where we may well drop. But I think Rodgers would be booted before then. Its not as good a squad as some suggest, but it's also not one that should be sitting at the foot of the table after 5, or playing the garbage it currently is.

[Chrysalis]

I remember Newcastle going down with a team too good to go down, its a team sport not an individual's sport.

[Old Fox]

5 hours ago, Typhoeus said:

We have played Arsenal, Chelsea and United and lost those games. Southampton and Brentford were frustrating but ahead both games and just need to learn how to hold out and take more chances.

So you mean concede less and score more - thanks for that but I suggest it runs a bit deeper than that !

[Sunbury Fox]

4 hours ago, SuperMike said:

WOW! Out of all the posts on 30 Rodgers topics, and 20 bad form topics, This has to be THE most pertinent (and damning) of all of them!! 

3rd in passing and pretty much gash in ALL the rest - really shows that we are sticking with something that patently doesn't work - the oft quoted (in relation to Rodgers) why expect to get success by carrying on doing something that has only ever bought failure?

Every fan on FT recognises this, Every fan at the ground recognises this. Surely Sky, BBC, BT and the mainstream Press CANNOT miss the relevance of this coaching (and it IS coaching) anomaly at LCFC??

It is so glaringly obvious that it can only be missed by ONE PERSON - and that one person appears hellbent on taking us down the leagues.

He needs to go - NOW.

If he's sacked, the media will simply say that he's worked wonders to achieve what he has with the players at his disposal. It won't be like what they said when Ole failed at Man U - then the line was that it was all down to the manager and the players were still great. The media and pundits have never fully accepted that we have had a really good team over the past few seasons. Hence that annoying 'over achieving' narrative from last season. The likes of Savage, who seems desperate for us to revert to type as he sees it, have already started saying that we'll be relegated if we sack Rodgers.

[Guest Col city fan]

38 minutes ago, Sunbury Fox said:

If he's sacked, the media will simply say that he's worked wonders to achieve what he has with the players at his disposal. It won't be like what they said when Ole failed at Man U - then the line was that it was all down to the manager and the players were still great. The media and pundits have never fully accepted that we have had a really good team over the past few seasons. Hence that annoying 'over achieving' narrative from last season. The likes of Savage, who seems desperate for us to revert to type as he sees it, have already started saying that we'll be relegated if we sack Rodgers.

Savage was absolutely kissing Rodger’s arse last night. It was nauseating tbh.

[chapero82]

We will get relegated as we’ve become complacent 

[Sir Shep]

Remember being to good to go down when in the championship a while back. 

[SuperMike]

23 minutes ago, Sir Shep said:

Remember being to good to go down when in the championship a while back. 

Shilton, Rodrigues, Nish, Roberts  Sjoberg, Cross, Fern, Gibson, Lochhead, Clarke, Glover    - way, way, way too good to go down (FA cup finalists). Went down.

[sdb]

If it were mid season I'd be writing us off, but there's far too many games left to say we're doomed. A competent manager who wants the job, and not just the money, could turn it around quickly.

[Sunbury Fox]

1 minute ago, sdb said:

If it were mid season I'd be writing us off, but there's far too many games left to say we're doomed. A competent manager who wants the job, and not just the money, could turn it around quickly.

I'm not so sure. The squad is totally unbalanced. We have probably the worst winger options in the league. Look at the quantity of PL level wingers that even the likes of West Ham and Wolves have compared to us. Our second best wide man is probably Marc Albrighton!! That is a massive issue when it comes to creativity and goalscoring. 

[Sir Shep]

8 minutes ago, SuperMike said:

Shilton, Rodrigues, Nish, Roberts  Sjoberg, Cross, Fern, Gibson, Lochhead, Clarke, Glover    - way, way, way too good to go down (FA cup finalists). Went down.

Wow! Now I'm even more depressed 

[Pliskin]

No one is ever too good to go down.

[sdb]

4 minutes ago, Sunbury Fox said:

I'm not so sure. The squad is totally unbalanced. We have probably the worst winger options in the league. Look at the quantity of PL level wingers that even the likes of West Ham and Wolves have compared to us. Our second best wide man is probably Marc Albrighton!! That is a massive issue when it comes to creativity and goalscoring. 

Agree to an extent, but Barnes I'd easily top 10 in the league and I personally think perez is a mid table inside right. CB more of an issue but someone with integrity would immediately return Soyuncu to the fold 

[Bourbon Fox]

6 hours ago, Sunbury Fox said:

Our manager is routinely throwing players collectively and individually under the bus in his post game interviews in full Mourinho in meltdown style. His general demeanour is negative and downbeat and I just don't think he is motivating the players any more. All they hear from him is that they are not good enough, the club is no longer the same, etc. It's no wonder confidence is so low. His whinging about transfer funds also gives the players an excuse for losing, which is not healthy.

This is one of the biggest problems I think.

His excuse to cover himself comes at the cost of putting the players' heads down.

 

If you tell people they're sh*t every week it will become true.

 

All this talk of 'lacking quality' 'not got the profiles of player we need' 'overachieving' 'players here who aren't as good as they think they are' - he's painted himself into a corner.

 

Now he's doubling down by giving specific critical comments to named individuals - it's getting worse.

 

It's the exact opposite of motivating. How many first team squad members can he publicly criticise or demean before the whole dressing room hates the man?

Edited 2 September 2022 by Bourbon Fox

[Sunbury Fox]

1 minute ago, sdb said:

Agree to an extent, but Barnes I'd easily top 10 in the league and I personally think perez is a mid table inside right. CB more of an issue but someone with integrity would immediately return Soyuncu to the fold 

Also agree to an extent.

 

Ayo is usually better coming as a sub, though and is not really a winger. 

 

Fully agree that the treatment of Soyuncu is shocking. There is clearly a good player in there with the right support and direction.

 

My latest worry is that Timmy might end up being the new Cags with Thomas becoming the new Amartey. Hope I'm wrong, though. 

[ealingfox]

6 hours ago, Stadt said:

On average we have shots the furthest from goal and we concede shots closest to goal in the whole league  

 

We're comically bad, it's not 'form' or a bad run - we're just shit. It's disastrous management.

 

This - it's incredible that people are still laughing it off or dismissing it. The underlying metrics to our performances should have been ringing alarm bells for ages now. 

[when_you're_smiling]

20 hours ago, Sly said:

Okay, teams on 1 point after 5 games in the past 10 years. 
 

22/23 - Leicester - TBC

 

21/22 - Norwich and Burnley - Both relegated. 

 

20/21 - Fulham, Sheff U, Burnley - Two relegated.

 

19/20 - None

 

18/19 - Newcastle and Burnley - Both survived

 

17/18 - Crystal Palace- Survived

 

16/17 - Stoke and Sunderland - One relegated

 

15/16 - None

 

14/15 - None

 

13/14 - Sunderland - Survived

 

12/13 - Reading - Relegated

 

So in the past ten seasons, twelve teams have faced our predicament, with six going down. That’s 50% (hard math I know). 

True, but how many played three or more of the “Sky six” in those five games?

 

(Please don’t look that up. You have better things to do with your Friday night!)

[Harry the Cat]

There are many things that have been discussed on this thread that I agree with. I want to raise a number of other concerns. First, I don’t think we are fit enough. It is noticeable that we ran out of steam against Brentford and Southampton. Against Yanited last night,  there were times when players were bent over and gasping for breath, particularly Thomas and Justin. Second, we lack movement. I lost count of the number of times our midfield players were standing and waiting for a pass. They were easily marked and gave no options for defenders to play to them. Third, players hold on to the ball for too long. They fail to move the ball forward quickly enough. The natural inclination for players like Justin and Thomas is to play backwards. When you look at other teams, movement is constant and they seem fitter and stronger than our team. All this contributes to a relegation threatened side. 

Edited 2 September 2022 by Harry the Cat
Final sentence

[shilton_fox]

4 hours ago, Kasey Keller said:

So many things wrong behind the scenes.

BR slating everyone but himself, players retaliating via social media…..

I hate to say it but we are down.

Its been a hellova ride.

whose retaliated? Bring on the player uprising,